Kiss The Moon
by TheSirenMonster
Summary: Ruka Minazuki, a severely-mental patient in Mount Massive Asylum that suffers in Luna Sedata Syndrome, is a target of two subjects: the Walrider Project, and a stalker Groom named Eddie Gluskin. Crossover, Ruka Minazuki/Gluskin. Story contains: violence, gore, abuse, and feels.
1. Ruka Minazuki

**Now, this isn't my first crossover-rodeo, so this is something entirely familiar of me to do.**

**Why did I choose Ruka from Fatal Frame. Well, one, Ruka is not sociable as she should be, but she isn't stupid. She's literally been through Hell and back, fighting against the odds of homicidal phantoms and entities wanting to rip her to shreds. She is a capable character, mostly basing her survival on wits and discovering. Second, Ruka is just so KAWAII DESU YO~. (oh god, what the fuck, brain?)**

**REMINDER: _Ruka Minazuki_ is NOT MY CHARACTER.**

* * *

**Case Number:** 661

**Patient:** RUKA MINAZUKI

**Admitted to Institute:** 2008. 12. 12 - present.

**Patient Age:** 19

**Sex:** Female

**Observing Physician:** Dr. Howard O'Brian.

**Therapy Status:** Patient has become relatively calm since the last session in June, completely harmless. Morphogenic Engine still show no effects whatsoever, may be due to her rare disease in the brain. Patient is highly aware of surroundings, and is capable of day-to-day activities. Patient is showing remarkable healing in her therapy.

**Diagnostics:** (_5 Years Ago,_) Due to a traumatic event that resulted in her mentally-ill Uncle murdering the Minazuki parents and only Sister, when she was 7 years of age, Patient had been severely unstabled and wild since being obtained and admitted to Mount Massive Asylum. Patient continued to constantly speak of a 'Lunar Eclipse Ritual,' but no such event occurred. Delusional, the Patient has obsessive compulsion disorder of collecting masks family sends her via mail, as a way to keep connected to the Moon, and to hide her face from reflections. Patient also crafts her own, when given permission, and is not to be alone, due to discovery of self-infliction.

**Interview Notes:** Compared to 5 years ago, Patient has now become immensely stable and calm. She begins to accept the fact that her family had died tragically, and plans to move on from the past. Despite tremendous turn-arounds, Patient still suffers from rare disease of _Luna Sedata Syndrome_ (Getsuyuu Disease,) still acting out oddly and still suffers incredible symptoms, such as memory-loss and sleepwalking. This disease is not harmful, and does not seem contagious, but another female patient complains about being unable to see her face clearly anymore. I pardon that witness.

* * *

Since she had been seen as mentally stabled, Ruka's physician had allowed her to do more outdoor activities. She was allowed to go outside often, instead of being held cooped-up inside her cell everyday. She still had to remain where the other female patients resided on the outer-perimeter, though. Ruka has been silent for days, as she had begun to find herself quieted with the nonsense of the other patients' talk. Many of the female patients didn't like one another, finding each other as a threat or competition. Not to mention - capable killers or fighters that could slaughter each other like a pack of wild cats.

Most of the women were bald, due to intensive pulling of the hair during chaotic episodes. Some had short hair, like a man's. Ruka was the only one that had hair long enough to touch and brush her shoulders. Since she had stopped pulling her hair one year ago, her Physician wanted to see if she would be capable of letting it grow out. Sure enough, Ruka hadn't pulled her hair out since, caring for it instead. This was another small success for her Doctor to take note. Ruka's self-inflicted wounds began to heal since the last therapy session. Still risen on her skin, but no longer scabbing. Another minor success.

"_You_!" One of the older female patients, thin and frail, bald and red-faced, barked at Ruka's direction. "Whaddya lookin' at, with them big, brown eyes, huh?! You think you can see my Husband's ghost, right?! Well, ya can't have him, ya little tramp!" The woman gave Ruka a hard glare, practically glossy like daggers. Ruka took no offense, actually use to being yelled at this particular woman every single day. The crazy old bat could, apparently, see her dead husband's ghost floating around, and he has a wandering eye...

"Time to go back inside, ladies!" A guard outside yelled, standing at a tall, guarding post, a loaded rifle in his hands.

Despite all the small protests the female patients gave, they were escorted back into their Ward, so that the men could come out to the courtyard. This was necessary precautions, because unlike the hissy, paranoid women, the men were just downright horrible. They were vile, they were wicked, and they were more capable of killing. If those men were released into the courtyard the same time with women...

"Hey, you! Minazuki!" A guard stopped Ruka midway through the hall, handing her a closed book. "One of the boys outside said you forgot this."

Ruka made a confused face, staring at the brown-covered book with unsure eyes. "That's not right. This isn't-"

But the guard grew impatient and just shoved the book into her hands anyways, before marching off to watch the other patients.

Of course this wasn't her book. She didn't even have a book with her outside to begin with. But, she decided to leave it as it was, not wanting to be difficult.

When Ruka was brought back to her assigned room, she sat down and opened the book to see what novel it was genred as.

_My dearest Ruka,_

Was the first thing that jumped out at her. It certainly rose her eyebrows in shock.

_I hadn't even known about you, nor seen you before, until today.  
__Thank God I looked out my window to see you..._

_You're so beautiful, my dear. I would have gone to introduce myself, hadn't these whores kept me back. Rules! Pah!_

_You sit alone often, don't you, darling? In that courtyard?  
__You must be waiting for me out there, to sit next to when you're lonely..._

_Don't worry, though. When we finally meet, you won't have to be alone anymore._

_- Eddie Gluskin._

Ruka would have gone to report this, to an official that was in charge of the Male Ward inmates, but... she didn't want to get in trouble, either. There was a strict policy for the inmates to not allow any gifts or sharable items to be passed along to one another. Especially between the Male and Female Wards. If an official knew about this book, Ruka would be in more hurt than trouble...

There was nothing else in the blank book, other than a well-drawn sketch of herself on the other side of the disturbing letter. Whoever this Gluskin fellow was, he had an amazing talent for art. She slid the closed book underneath of her pillow and went back to her desk, to make yet another mask out of cardboard and paper.

* * *

"Do another test. Something isn't ticking right..."

"Sir... We ran the Engine about 4 times now. Clearly, there are no effects."

Within the Underground Laboratory, many tests and such were being conducted on Ruka again. Another sit-in with the Morphogenic Engine again, and nothing felt different. The nurses took Ruka aside to check if there were any difference in her eyes, skin complexion, or her mental state. So far, everything was just the same as the time they begun. Ruka was completely fine.

"It's that disease, Sir." One of the scientists answered. "It's got to be the answer to our issue."

"Ruka, eyes up," Steve, one of the Head Scientists of the Laboratory, ordered the young woman, once the other nurses were done checking up on her vision. Ruka did as she was told, looking at the older man in the eye. "Answer this one question, then you get the fuck out of this lab," He then asked his question slowly, and painfully irritably. "Can you. Control. Your. Disease?" Ruka shook her head firmly. "Are you lying to me? Because if you are..."

"_NO_." Ruka answered with her voice booming loudly, annoyed of the scientist. "I want to go back to my room." She requested with a fold of her arms. "Howard said that I needed to do another procedure today with the psychological testing-"

"Blah, blah, blah," Steve just cut her off rudely, turning to walk away.

Ruka fumed. How dare he be so disrespectful? Steve was always like this, that fucking asshole.

"You're done here, Ruka." He lastly announced, while the double doors automatically slid open with a soft hiss, presented with two guards that were her escort.

She gave an annoyed sigh before walking herself out with the other men.

Up the old elevator, awaiting to hit the seventh floor, Ruka couldn't help but stand there and think about tonight. Compulsive over the scheduled moon-phases her calender informed her of correctly, Ruka _knew _that a full moon was tonight. She smiled excitedly to herself, unable to help but bounce on her toes. She just loved the moon with all her heart. Her only salvation to escape the world for those few nights of moonlight to wash over her, and gift her the lost memories she couldn't remember before. If she could stay up those two days of a full moon, then she would. She was just praying for night to arrive fast.

When the familiar elevator bell made the loud _ding_, one of the guards pulled open the gated elevator door, and Ruka was escorted to her assigned room. Arriving to the door, the men felt nonchalant about being safe. Honestly, out of all the patients there, Ruka was the only one that wouldn't do anything stupid to cause a fuss. So, they simply unlocked her door with a key, while she stood behind them with no restraints, opened the bedroom door, and let her walk in without any bother. See? What a good girl she is! Once inside, Ruka heard the door behind her shut and lock tight. The bedroom lights automatically switched on from the outside hall.

And when the lights came on, Ruka spotted something off. She was an OCD fanatic, that would know if anything was moved, touched, or even budged. And what she saw on the middle of her bed was... another brown-covered book.

Ruka made an uncomfortable stare to that book. Was this another of Eddie's love letters? Because she KNEW that she didn't leave any book on her bed when she had left her room to see the console. A little off, Ruka decided to confront the book herself, marching over fast to snatch it in her fist.

When she opened it...

_Your room is perfect._

Her stomach dropped.

_I had no idea you were such an avid crafts-girlie for masks. Your unhealthy, compulsive hoarding of those masks is just so adorable!  
Oh, but, PLEASE don't wear them often. I̶̷ ̶̷h̶̷a̶̷v̶̷e̶̷ ̶̷t̶̷o̶̷ I NEED to see your face everyday, every _minute_._

_I'm sorry I went into your room without asking you, darling. I just had to know you better.  
You know how a man gets when he wants to know a woman. Of course you do.  
We have so much in common, we were just_ meant_ for each other!_

_Please, please play me a song on the piano. Please, please, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE-_

_Oh, you just make me want to work for it, you minx._  
_I promise, though - when it's time to finally meet,_  
_We will be absolutely perfect._

_- Eddie Gluskin._

Ruka panicked now, but, oddly enough, not out of the intense fear of a stalker. No, no. It was the fact that SOMEONE was in her ROOM, and just TARNISHED her intensive cleaning and organizing! She threw the book across the room and straightened out her bed-blanket fast, to make sure it looked just the way it was before she left her room. She frantically looked around her room to check and scan anything that looked an inch or minimized-inch off. She breathed hard. Oh God, why would this man do this to her? And on her very special night, too?!

She tried hard to make the panic subside, clutching her hands over both sides of her head, eyes clenched shut, and breathing as deep as she could to calm down. She made a throaty whine when she noticed that her window curtains were closed. Even though it was still the late afternoon, with the sun still shining bright, Ruka decided to go open them, to prepare for the night. Yes, perhaps that will calm her nerves... Just prepare for the full moon. All the tension will be washed away once night arrives with the precious moon she so dearly loved... The reassuring thought made her smile slightly, at least.

When she pulled open the curtain to her window, she was presented with the sight of-

A dead, bloodied white dove was attached to the inside of her bedroom window. It was dead by a broken neck, with its belly sliced open and emptied of no organs or intestines. Blood dripped and oozed from the beautiful dove's corpse thickly onto her window sill, seeping down to her carpeted floor, staining it. The dove was heavily masked onto the window pane, with too many long strips of clear duck tape. Surrounding the dove's small body was a large heart painted in its own blood.

And below the bird's carcass, there was a torn-out piece of notebook paper that was also attached to the pane with a dozen strips of tape. It was all scribbled nonsense that looked like it was a mountain of just the same request repeating over and over again.

_Ruka._  
_Ruka._  
_Ruka._  
_Ruka._  
_Ruka._  
_My bride._  
_My Wife._  
_My angel._  
_My slut._  
_My soulmate._  
_My heart._  
_I FUCKING HATE YOU._  
_I love you.  
You're my baby girl._  
_YOU ARE A FUCKING WHORE._  
_Why don't you see me like you ought to?_  
_Ruka._  
_Ruka._  
_Ruka._  
_Ruka._  
_Be mine._  
_YOU ARE MINE._  
_DIE, ALONE._  
_I want you to HAVE MY BABY._  
_I WANT YOU.  
You're so cruel.  
I WANT YOU TO BE MINE.  
Ruka.  
Ruka.  
Ruka.  
RUKA.  
Ruka.  
RUKA._

"Knock, knock, Ruka," Dr. O'Brian entered the room before knocking. "Ruka, it's time for that test- _What the **FUCK**_?!" The Physician dropped his clipboard in utter horror, seeing the dead dove, the blood, and the sight of his beloved patient smearing her flattened, thin palms all over the blood to rub it all over the window pane, surrounding it all around the bird's taped carcass.

She looked absolutely possessed doing this, saying not one fucking word, and not even realizing the fact that her parent-of-a-Physician was standing right at her opened bedroom door. Ruka viciously smeared more blood onto the tripled-window pane, pressing her palms extremely hard against the tough glass to paint out her boiled emotions. She stuffed her hands into the opened belly of the dove to coat her hands in blood, and continue her sadistic painting, crimson glossing over and over the glass.

And that was when she noticed someone outside the window, standing right at the bottom of the Female Ward building.

A man, tall and pale, just standing below the building's architect, and grinning away to the message Ruka was giving this stalker.

"NO." Ruka suddenly wailed, slamming the heels of her palms onto the pane wildly, still screaming. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO, NO, NO. **NO.**"

"Restrain her!" The voice of a random staff member blared out, before grabbing Ruka by her slim shoulders to pry her back from the window pane. "Ruka! Ruka, stop it!" The same man called out, as another male nurse assisted, trying to pull her out of her room, as she thrashed, screamed and kicked as they did, swinging her arms and slapping them in the face with her blood-soaked hands.

"No, don't take me away!" She suddenly panicked, halting her attacks. "Th-The moon! THE MOON IS FULL TONIGHT! DON'T TAKE ME AWAY**!**"

As they yield Ruka and carried her away from her room, down the hall towards the elevator, Dr. O'Brian was left to let out his mortified and betrayed emotions in silenced frustrations. He trusted Ruka to not burst out of her safety shell, that she was doing so well to keep snugged in. But now, she wasn't going to see daylight for... who knows?


	2. The Bzou Arrives

**When we think about it, Eddie is just like the Big Bad Wolf of _Little Red Riding Hood_, among women.**

**I was listening to 'Grandmother's Tale' from _The Path_'s soundtrack, and **HOLY SHIT**, Eddie fits the profile of a Wolf so well.**

**To women, he seems rather charming, sweet and polite. He hides that with his facade, intent on harming them (not love them,) stopping them on their paths to speak and learn about them. A poor choice. He then will stalk them to wherever their destination, and kill them before they are at their place and time. He smells them out like a Wolf, gleefully reminding them time and time again, 'Ah, the smell of the love's arbor!' Even when they hide, Eddie stops at nothing to hunt them down, like the bzou he is, and won't rest until he clamps his sharpened teeth onto their throats, and rips them apart, with his trusted weapon of choice; a long knife.**

**OH GOD, I'M SCARED OF EDDIE ALL OVER AGAIN.**

* * *

Research of rare disease, so far, does not show much to scientifically detail and etch into the Walrider project. However, history on the Luna Sedata Syndrome has been able to be exhumed from Rougetsu Island, all the way in Japan - Ruka's Uncle's (Heiko Tachibana) homeland, before he killed her entire family.

It seems that there is no other patient in the world with this rare disease. Or, they're hiding. Some volunteers from outside the facility had lied about having it, needy of attention. Some had never heard about it. Luna Sedata Syndrome seems to only exist upon Rougetsu Island, where there is hardly a population now. Many civilians that once lived there had either died or had immigrated. If we could find another or more patients with this Syndrome, it could help yield Walrider.

Patient Ruka Minazuki suffers from the Syndrome greatly, but is not willing to submit to an operation that could involve extracting this from her, to combined it with our project. But the disease is in the brain. There is a 90.9℅ chance that Ruka Minazuki may not live after surgery. We are willing to take that risk.

* * *

"Patient 661 is being extracted from Room 108, due to belligerent behavior. We are taking her to solitary confinement now."

After the nurses had taken Ruka off of the elevator, down to the main floor, they began escorting her outside, to where this solitary confinement was. These small buildings were like the old confinements back in Alcatraz, to be nothing but a stone room absent of light whatsoever. That meant no moonlight could enter the room... She kept her mouth shut, as the guards locked her hands together in handcuffs before moving to the outside. One held their hand around her slim upper-arm, while the other led the way.

Exiting the Female Ward, out into the backyard of the asylum, Ruka'e tension was soon washed away by the bright moonlight above her head. The light shone upon her like a heavy riverfall pouring down onto her very soul, with the sweet calmness and bliss she could ever imagine. A small sigh extinguished from her throat, out her mouth, as she finally stopped fighting.

"Raoul, what's wrong with 661?" One of the guards asked his partner, noticing how weak Ruka became in his grasp.

The other guard, named Raoul, looked at Ruka's peaceful expression, also finding it strange. Of course, they had no clue about her Syndrome, so they assumed another idea. "Eh, she's probably bipolar or something." Raoul shrugged, turning back to walk through the secluded courtyard with the others. "Is she showing any fight whatsoever, Mitchell?"

Mitchell, the guard restraining Ruka, used his hand to grab her jaw, turning her face to his.

Ruka looked back to him with a blissful smile, relaxed. "Helllooo~." She greeted him with glee.

"No. Definitely not homicidal any longer, Raoul. She seems very much calm." Mitchell became confused, but rather relieved, about her turnaround. "Should we even continue taking her to confinement? She's-"

"Follow orders, Mitchell. We need to do a lot of that around here." Raoul said with annoyance. "Kids these days."

The confinement building was down below a cellar-like imprisonment. It was fenced off with linked, electric fences that kept away other variants, or stopped any that tried to run or escape. It was on constant lockdown, though, because runaway variants within confinement would try to climb the guard's post building to commit suicide by ledge-jumping. The new locks have been removed, and more thorn-wires were added to the fences. The moment of their arrival was monitored by other security men watching from the radio post.

But, the post was unoccupied. Due to an alert from earlier informing two runaway variants close to the perimeter, the post guards were called upon to obtain the variants, alive or dead. The fence was locked off by electric. There were only two switches amongst the area that could turn off the power. One in the radio post, and one downstairs in a basement just below the confinement cells.

Seeing how Ruka was so calm at the moment, they decided to take the chance.

"You stay here with her. I'll go see to that switch." Raoul ordered the young guard, before marching off into the night to find the basement entry.

Once he was out of sight, Mitchell made an irritated glare at the direction his partner took. "What a stuck-up fuckface." Mitchell adjusted the gun strap around his shoulder in frustration. "Why did I get caught up with that guy?"

"Isn't the moon beautiful?" Ruka asked the guard quietly. He looked back to her. "It's just much more beautiful in this area..." She stood there, head tilted back, eyes up at the moon just right above them. No trees or clouds blocked the soft, blue rays of moonlight to shine down on them. She was completely calm, staring up at the blue planet above with a dreamy look on her face. "Did you know that... Jupiter passes by the moon every few years, rotating around it? It's so tiny to see with the human eye, though... I wish I had a powerful telescope."

Mitchell made a raise of his eyebrows. "I didn't know, actually."

Ruka smiled away. "When the crossover begins, they call it a... celestial moment." She sighed, still looking up to the divine light.

Seeing her now as she was, the young guard begun to think she wasn't completely harmful. He let go of her arm momentarily to see if she would try to run, but, she didn't. Ruka was stood there mindlessly, wringing her hands at times, staring. Mitchell almost felt sorry for her, but not entirely so. It was just a hole of pity drilled in his heart that he could easily fill up.

Raoul was taking too long to come back. The electrical fence wasn't shutdown, from the way some sparks flew, and still gave off the hisses and snaps as the power remained active. What was taking Raoul so long? It surely couldn't have taken so long to flip a switch.

"Raoul, this is Mitchell. What's taking you so long?" Mitchell radioed his partner through a walkie-talkie. No response. "Raoul, respond. Patients aren't to be left outside this long. What're you doing?" He tried again, not once worried. Surely Raoul would talk back. But, still, all Mitchell could hear was just annoying static on the other line. "Screw it." Mitchell finally gave up. "I'll just take her back to the Ward-"

But before the young guard could turn around, an anonymous force slammed into his back and shoved him straight at the electric fence. And when Mitchell's body connected to the linked fence with a hard slam of his body-

**_- SNAP, BUUZZZ, ZAAAPPP -!_**

A large fusion of sparks and electrical lights screamed out with snaps and crackles. This woke Ruka from her dream-state, snapping her head to the side to witness the electrical charge frying up the young guard's body. Her eyes watched as his body couldn't keep up with the blast, and eventually, something unseen before in Ruka's life had never been witnessed before. The high voltage made Mitchell's eyes explode, and his mouth drool and silently scream out ribbons of blood. Until his heart finally burst.

When the charge yield, Ruka stood there dumbfound, not sure how to react... She was so bathed in the moonlight, she almost forgot how to respond.

A touch at her shoulder, and she thought it were the older guard. But, not until she turned to look.

"Darling..." His smile grew wide, eyes flashing like a cat's. "There you are..." There he was. Her love-sick stalker.

Ruka made a startled gasp, taking an immediate step back. She kept her hands close to her chest, since they were still cuffed. She stared at this man's face, she couldn't see his face clearly, because of the moonlight that obscured one side of his face and top of his head. All she knew that he was tall, built, and carrying something heavy in his right fist. She swallowed back acid in constricting fear, feeling those missing, boiling emotions of darkness smoke her foggy mind. Her heart rattled madly.

"Where are you going, my darling?" The man asked darkly, hand still extended out, lowered, as he continued to stare at her.

Hearing his voice, she didn't even know what to do. She was unable to respond, just staring back at the taller man's face.

"Darling, what's wrong...?" And then, a smiled played on his face. "Oh, did my letters and books make you blush with embarrassment? How cute of you." He made a delighted chuckle, taking one step forward. "Come to me, dear. I've waited for a moment to finally meet you, to see you. You're more beautiful in person."

But Ruka took a step back again, her mind reeling too fast, making her body almost tremble. Her mind awakened from the daze and confusion. Now, she finally knew who she was up against. Her love-sick stalker. Eddie Gluskin.

Eddie's eyes suddenly narrowed, his teeth clenched tightly. "Why are you moving away?" He growled subtly, eyebrows furrowed. His outstretched hand twitched, about ready to ball up into a fist, yet he still kept it out and opened, waiting for his beloved to take his hand.

Ruka didn't know what to do. She was standing before her demented stalker. Her heart slammed against her chest, a sweat running down her forehead. Her eyes, wide and focused, and her small form was nothing against his tall, towering stature. She was like a lamb, cornered by the actual Wolf.

"I-It's just..." She shook her head once, trying not to sound so shaken. What if he heard her? "... Wh-What big eyes you have." She grinned weakly.

And Eddie smiled back wickedly. "The better to _see you with_, my darling." Another step forward.

Another step back. "What big arms you have." Her eyes scanned over his sleeve-covered arms, noticing how he seemed physically built.

"The better to _hold you close_, my darling." Another step forward. His other hand that held the heavy object gripped tightly, to where his palm strained against it. He heard the familiar sound of the weapon, and grinned another time at her.

She almost flinched. "What sharp teeth you have!" She cried out.

"... The better to _eat you with_, my darling."

That was it. Ruka ran.

She ran and ran, amongst the curvy paths of the large courtyard's grass and trees. She could hear Eddie just behind her, thundering down the very path that she was on. Ruka didn't know what to do, feeling tears running down her cheeks as she tried to move faster. The air was freezing upon the mountains the asylum was nestled in, her skin prickled with goosebumps, and her tears ready to become solid against her skin. Her bare feet bolted through the crunches of dead leaves and twigs, among the brick path that she knew would lead her back to the Ward.

"Darling, wait! Don't run from me!" Eddie called out for Ruka, in such a tamed and polite voice. Sounding nowhere angry. It was bullshit. "Darling, come here, please! I only want to love you!" And yet, he still wield that heavy weapon of a blade in his hand viciously. It only made Ruka speed up.

Just when she was sure that she was halfway out of the path, Ruka's foot suddenly connected to something heavy upon the ground beneath her feet. She fell over with a loud thud, slamming her face into the brick path. Her nose hit the bricks first, instantly hit and bleeding from her nostril. Whipping her head to look at a tree, that was caved in with a large hole big enough for a person's body, she crawled towards it, just nearby the spot she had fallen upon. It fitted enough for her to huddle in and hide. Spiders hissed and ran off out of the caved tree trunk, leaving fast because of Ruka's presence. A squirrel ran up the tree fast.

On the brick path, there was a body laying horizontally upon it. It was the missing guard from earlier.

"Darling?" Eddie called out breathlessly, stopping in front of the body to closely examine if it were Ruka that had fallen. When he saw that it was just Raoul from before, Eddie made an exaggerated scoff, kicking the body in its side with the front of his hard boots. "Darling? _Daaarling_?" He sang out the nickname with a fake grin, flashing those white, large teeth again. "I won't give up on you! I know you're worth it!" He roared out his wooing words once again, not leaving the area. Did he know that she was hiding there? Ruka felt a thick shiver run down her spine as the gleam of the weapon's blade flashed in the moonlight, as he swung it back and forth in his hand impatiently.

He never left. Even after five minutes or more had gone by, he never wanted to leave and investigate.

"I know you're here." Eddie finally admitted, once his breath was caught.

Ruka became solid in fright.

"Don't hide for too long, my love. It's so cold outside. These arms, they will hold you so close..." He never once put down the blade, nor sheathed it. "Should I work for it, you little minx?" He chuckled, once again, delightedly. "Oh, my love. I only want to be amicable about those letters and single gift I had presented to you earlier. I wanted to say I'm sorry for invading your privacy. It wasn't right of me to take over your life like that, I know." Eddie paced around the bricked area with a spring in every step, jovial to find his missing darling. "Should I read you another of my letters? Another piece of my heart to woo you?"

Ruka wanted desperately to move, and to run back to her Physician for help and safety. But, while this man just stood around, practically waiting for her to make any daring move. She just remained hiding in the hollowed tree trunk.

"Dearest, dearest Ruka... How you make me feel so whole." Eddie began his mental love-letter, but not yelling it out. He spoke softly, smoothly, shamelessly indulge in wanting her quick. "... I saw you with those wolves that were taking you to confinement. How one held you so wrongly, and how the other looked at you so oddly. I knew I couldn't let them take you from me, how much I knew you loved that moonlight upon your beautiful face and eyes..." He stops suddenly where he was pacing, standing just behind the dead body. "How you looked so peaceful and soft under the light of the moon. How celestial you looked, like my Goddess..." Slowly, his feet turned to the hollowed tree, approaching quietly. "We met, and you were so excited, you ran. And I ran with you."

Holding another breath, she wished for escape.

"And here you are, my dearest feast."

* * *

**Little girls, this seems to say, never stop upon your way. **  
**Never trust a stranger-friend. **  
**No one knows how it will end... **  
**As you're _pretty_, so be _wise_! **  
**Wolves may lurk in every 'guise. **  
**Handsome, they may be, and kind, gay, or charming, _nevermind_! **  
**Now, as then, tis simple truth;**  
**Sweetest tongue... has _sharpest tooth_.**


	3. Living Together

**Hey, guys.**

**Sorry about the hold up. I was moving! Heh! Geezy, let's get to writing!**

**If you guys want, you can follow me on my new Tumblr. I don't know how it works, but I'm spamming my page with a buttload of my artwork. The link is on my profile heer. And thanks for reading! More to come, ya.**

* * *

"Freeze! YIELD, VARIANTS!" The blast of approaching guards aimed for the two lone asylees, guns drawn and flashlights beaming in their location.

Eddie was startled by the voices, flinching when he saw the red, thin lights of gun's pointing right at the tree trunk or at Ruka's face. His chest boiled, out of quaking fear and rage. He immediately dropped his weapon to drop to his knees, covering Ruka's from the exposure with his body. She was still curled up in the tree trunk, so he couldn't touch her. But he kept his arms out, to shelter her.

"Don't hurt us! I LOVE HER!" Eddie pleaded to the armored guards.

"Who're these kids?" One of the guards asked, as five more surrounded Eddie and Ruka with guns pointed at their craniums. "Wait - these are the patients to the Warider jiffy, isn't it?" He almost made a scoff, looking over the two lunatics. "Talk about pathetic. Subdue them both, and bring them back to their cells. That one," the man pointed at Eddie, "get the K-9."

And just as he commanded in a snap, the guards backed off as two trained German Shepherd canines came bolting through the path, unleashed, barking and howling as they came right at Eddie with teeth and weight. They only sent the K-9 unit on Eddie Gluskin because he was obviously a much more stronger force to be reckoned with, follow by discovering the two dead guards from earlier. The dogs attacked the Groom with chomps at his shoulders and shins, preventing him to stand. He punched one in the face, but the second dog tackled him with paws out and teeth clamping on his face - not tearing off his flesh, but to hold him down.

"You! Get out of there!" The leader of the guards was suddenly at the tree trunk, reaching in the large hole to pry Ruka out of hiding. She propped out of the trunk like a stuck hermit crab, pained and whining from scratches and tears at her forearms.

"Should I blame her for those deaths?" One of the K-9 unit controllers asked his leader.

"No, don't. From the way she looks, she couldn't break a pencil in half. Blame that tall variant." He easily ordered, and he was heeded.

As the same guard had his hold on a frightened Ruka, more guards had to come close to the Groom and handle him altogether, seeing how he was still putting up some fight. Surely, he couldn't have energy to continue struggling? Ruka looked to Eddie, while her guard was radioing someone else on his line, watching how the variant was rose from the ground, bloodied in the face and neck. She was still amazed at how tall he was, because he nearly towered the group of guards like a shadow.

"C'mon," the guard tugged Ruka by her arm. "We're moving."

"D-Darling!" Eddie struggled to croak, trying to look at Ruka as she was being taken away. "Please... I'll be back soon enough!" He promised breathlessly, seeing that she wasn't looking over her shoulder to acknowledge him. She was too ashamed, because she felt it all to be her fault. "I love you!" Eddie could lastly husk before being dragged away to the Male Ward. Ruka could have swore she heard him crying softly, but, not to the searing pain in his face. But being peeled away from her.

* * *

"May I ask you a question, Eddie?" Doctor Snow decided to start with a sigh, seeing his regular patient for the third time this week.

After the raid, Eddie was given little medical attention for his wounds. He was stripped from his waistcoat and garb, back into a jumpsuit. He wasn't in any mood to have a conversation with his physician, not while he was still thriving on seeing Ruka again. His eyes were fixed to the floor, while his hands were cuffed and ankles shackled. Two guards stood behind him, in case of any disorder. Garrett Snow knew Eddie better enough to not sit in a room all alone with.

"Why... did you break into Ruka's dorm?" Doctor Snow asked, hands locked together on his table surface, as he looked at Eddie. But Eddie looked absent. "You were discovered on surveillance cameras for breaking into the Female Ward earlier, and found lockpicking the door to the dorm. Eddie, look at this here," Doctor Snow exhumed incriminating evidence of Eddie's ploy - the love letters and bloodied one from the window. The dead dove was in a wooden box, obscured from view. "Were you intending on killing Miss Ruka?"

"NO!" Eddie shouted suddenly, shooting up to sit straight. "She is my Darling! She is my Wife! She is my... Love!"

"Be quiet, Eddie." Doctor Snow impatiently retorted. "You proclaimed that you hated her in this taped note. Don't lie, Eddie."

But, quite honestly, Eddie was outraged. He had no recollection of what Doctor Snow was talking about. He knew he wrote that note, yes, but he didn't think he wrote anything saying that he hated her. And why hate her? Eddie loved her to death! He wanted to woo Ruka, not scare her. She certainly looked happy, from the way she was banging on the window pane at him. He took it as a wonderful sign that she was saying, "yes!"

"Ruka is a sensitive patient, Eddie. She is in the same position as you are, with Walrider." Doctor Snow admitted, as he flipped through the pages of unread love notes Ruka was yet to receive. Some were explicit. "How about we just incarcerate you for a longer period of time, while experimenting on Ruka in the mean time? That'll make you leave her alone-"

"I CAN HEAR THE WALRIDER!" Eddie exclaimed, trying to stand up fast, but the guards held him back quickly, hands at his shoulders and restraining him silently, yet powerfully. "P- Please, Doctor... I can hear the Walrider... Believe me!" He was ecstatic, but not in a cavorting matter. Rather, more fearful and panicked for his Wife's safety. "Ruka isn't meant for the Walrider! It's me! I'm meant for him! Doctor, please, don't do anything to my Darling!" Eddie basically rambled on gibberish in the name of protecting Ruka.

His desperation was there, and Doctor Snow could sense it. But he was quite astounded by Eddie's persistency, how he would risk himself for just one human being, like Ruka. Honestly, to many other professionals within the Asylum, Ruka was better off dead. She was only useful for one purpose now, and the outside world would be rid of annoyance. Along with Eddie's, and his reign of terror amongst women he terrorized. He chuckled wickedly to a funny thought. Perhaps they WERE meant for each other?

"Perhaps," Doctor Snow shrugged with the same smirk. "Alight then, Eddie. Since you're persistent, we can take you into the lab instead. Right now."

And before Eddie could properly agree, he was taken by the guards fast and dragged out. He didn't fight. He would go. For Ruka's sake.

* * *

The underground laboratory looked nothing different. Same shit, different day. Eddie didn't know what the news was upon his experimenting, but he simply went along quietly. He didn't want to be trouble, not while his dear Wife's life was on the line. He needed to cooperate, he knew. Even if it would hurt like mad. But, he had to remember, this wasn't his first time being sacrificed...

"Fuck, there he is." Andrew's voice rang true, as Eddie was escorted through the thick, plastic hallways. Andrew was seemingly the head of this operation, along with that Jeremy Blaire. But, this was a Doctor none of the variants enjoyed. He had a liking for men, and especially if he could get them alone in one room. Sexual predator, which made Eddie flinch. God, if he was forcibly locked in a cell with that creep alone... He shook his head, keeping himself acquired.

"Do we bring him into the lab, sir?" One of the guards questioned Andrew.

"No, not yet. We're having some issues with the machine again. Just toss him in that chamber there." Andrew waved an arm dismissively.

The guards hesitated, though, as if Andrew had forgotten to mention another important factor. But since the head Doctor wasn't in the mood to finish the equation, the duo decided to simply do as he ordered. So, the guards led Eddie into another narrow hallway, one that was a tad farther from the main control room's area. This part of the lab was nothing familiar to Eddie, but he thought of it as a holding cell or something of the sort, to make him wallow in whilst they attended that machine.

Arriving to an iron door, activated only by a card-key, the guards unlocked the chamber door. When the doors automatically slid open with a smooth hiss, Eddie could see nothing but darkness. Perhaps it was a cell? Then, the guards unshackled him, from hands and feet, he was out of his iron grip. Odd, he noted. After, Eddie was shoved into the dark, and the doors slid shut quickly. He was plunged into blackness, positively blinded. But not until that Andrew creep had mentioned to switch on the lights.

When the flash of lights blasted in Eddie's eyes, his initial reaction was to throw an arm over his eyes and jolt. God, the light was too much for one room! Or, so he thought, until the beam began to soften into a dingy glow. Eddie shook his head, reopening his eyes in a gruff. He looked in front of himself, and saw-

"DARLING!" Eddie gasped in surprise.

Indeed, it was his Darling. Ruka was there, in the same chamber. She was backed into a wall, looking petrified. She wasn't shackled any longer either, and she was back in her fitted jumpsuit. She was right there, in the flesh, in the same room, on purpose.

"Please, wait!" Ruka brought out both her hands to halt Eddie's approach. He heeded. "I-I hid in a tree." She admitted. "I'm sorry for making you get hurt, too... Those dogs got to you, and I saw you getting hurt more." The pang of guilt still sat in her stomach like a bad flu. She felt responsible for Eddie's injuries, that were flourishing red upon his wilted face decorated in dog bites and bruises. She could see a large ring of deep teeth marks bearing upon his face, surrounding his right eye and side of his strong features. "God, you look awful." Ruka mindlessly admitted. "Those dogs were mean... I was never fond of them. I like cats."

Eddie was grinning nonetheless, not giving two-shits whether he was hurting himself now. He grabbed both Ruka's hands and pulled her in for a tight hug, embracing his sweetheart for the first time ever. She was especially small, a foot shorter than his six-four structure. Her head was pressed against his chest, body flushed against his, with large arms circled around her frame like an anaconda constricting. Yes, he was bear-hugging her.

"Oh, Darling! We're finally together! I can hold you. Feel you. Hear you." Eddie simply marinated in this celestial moment, with his one and only. He wanted to laugh, or cry. Hell, he would do both, had he not been too swallowed in his joyousness. "Oh, Darling!" He suddenly remembered, pulling Ruka back to examine her face and neck. "Did they do anything to you? Are you hurt? If you are..."

Ruka immediately pointed to the back of her ear, brushing back her hair. The side of her cranium was bruised. "I was hit in the head by someone. I... can't remember who, but, it really hurt." She chuckled confusingly. Ruka's condition seemed to have been riveting again - including her short-term memory loss. She spoke as if she were absolutely hazed, bewildered of prior actions. But, she could clearly remember someone hitting her with a blunt object, after she kept refusing to go into the chamber. Andrew must have hit her?

"Fucking vultures...!" Eddie husked with a low growl, just thinking of that sicko. "When I get my hands on his throat..." But he ignored that happy thought for the time, as he tended to his Wife. He kissed her bruise carefully and tenderly, as she flinched slightly to the touch. She didn't like that he was too close, so she started edging herself away. Of course, Eddie just stepped closer the more she backed away, until she was pinned to the wall, between iron and a body.

"No, quit it!" Ruka demanded loudly, slamming her hands at his chest to make him cut the kisses. "Did YOU hit me?!" She glared.

"No! Of course not! I would never!" Eddie took no offense to her question, too lovey to make a retort. "Now, now, Darling. Let's not get uptight. Come," Eddie led her to a cell bed, where they both sat down together. Ruka folded her arms, giving Eddie a narrow of her eyes. "Aw, why the serious face? Are you still mad that I made a mess of your bedroom window?"

Ruka shook her head. "You got me in trouble."

Eddie chuckled, teeth flashing in a grin. Ruka saw this, and couldn't help but grin back, despite being a little annoyed.

_"Attention, variants,"_ Andrew's voice sudden came on, through the ceiling speaker kept behind the vents and lights. _"Since we're having such a fucking issue with this blasted machine... You two'll have to be staying in this chamber until its functional... Might take a few days, soooooo~ooo..." _He unenthusiastically gave his small speech without a care in the world. Typical Andrew.

"A few days? Okay." Ruka put both hands on her hips. "I mean, I think I had to do that once... Oh, but, you know, it's completely fine." She said as if it were all normal and casual. "You," she looked to Eddie. "Are you fine with this?"

"ABSOLUTELY." Eddie answered a little too quickly. "We can finally sit here together... For _days..._" He looked plum-crazy again with his crooked smile.

But of course, their permanent room wouldn't be the small chamber cell. Due to Ruka's overly a protective Doctor's ranting upon her condition, he demanded the two must be moved to another location during the anxious wait for the Walrider machine. So, as the scientists have used in the past for other potential patients that could likely bear Walrider, the two were appointed into a larger room, that seemed to have acted like an apartment, minus the windows and minus the privacy, due to surveillance cameras within the block.

This new room was just like an apartment. A living room, a kitchenette, one bedroom, and one bath. Like a livid home, within Hell.

"This place looks... familiar!" Ruka couldn't help but note.

"It should be. You were here when you first arrived to this Asylum." The voice of Doctor O'Brian caught Ruka by surprise. She twirled around fast, and was met by her endearing Doctor's smile and tired eyes. "This was the first place we met as well, when you kept refusing to listen to the other Doctors." Both Ruka and he embraced, hugging her tightly, ever-so glad to see her all right. "But you were hit in the head..." Doctor O'Brian examined the side of her wounded head carefully, seeing streaks of bruises decorating the side of her cranium. "What happened, Ru-"

But before the physician could ask, Eddie suddenly appeared behind Ruka and immediately grabbed her by the sides, pulling her back into his chest to hug his arms around her frame. He shot evil glares at her Doctor, eyes flaring with rage, iris glossy with the green of absolute jealousy. Ruka didn't understand, of course, so she just shrugged to his reaction.

"Ruka, this place with be safe. You remember, yes? When you pretended to speak fondly of your family here?" The physician tried.

"Yeah... Yeah, I do!" Ruka's eyes widen with hope. "I pretended Mother and Father were still here, with me... But, that's different now!" Ruka quickly twisted around to embrace Eddie's around his sides. "I finally have a friend this time with me!" She smiled widely like a Cheshire cat. "We can talk, hang out, and... and whatever is considered time-consuming! I won't be lonely." She assured her physician, as Eddie smiled back in a smug look.

Doctor O'Brian then remembered another thought, looking to Eddie to inform him of something. But, Andrew quickly hurried the physician out before he could, becoming impatient in all the amicable talk. O'Brian obviously struggled, trying to tell the scientist that there was an important reminder to Ruka's odd sleeping patterns that Eddie needed to know about. But, Andrew simply told the man that it was nothing to worry over, and that Eddie would know what to do with her sleeping issues. O'Brian didn't favor, but out he went.

Once the crowd was gone, two were a party again. Ruka did have some faint memories of this particular apartment, but nothing major just yet. She held Eddie's hand for a moment to scan the living room with her wandering eyes, before returning his gaze. "It's like we're roommates in a college! Or, it's like we're... married or something!" She giggled, but it just made Eddie intake sharply of air. That sounded wonderful. "The married part sounds about right! Hey! You can be the Husband, and I'll be the Wife!" She unknowingly endulged his fantasies, making Eddie grin harder. "What should we do first?! Watch some telly? Burn the kitchen?"

_"You go to sleep." _Andrew's voice suddenly appeared through the speaker nearby the surveillance camera within the living room. _"I don't know if you've noticed, but it's twelve at night. You all need to_ sleep."

The bedroom was seemingly small, but wide enough to home two separate beds. Both beds were blanketed with two different colors. One had blue, and the other had pink, just to separate gender apparently. They looked comfortable, and both were Tuckered out from the chase of the day.

"Wait." Ruka stopped Eddie with a squeeze of his hand. "I... I have real bad night-terrors..."

Eddie made an odd look. "Oh, nightmares, Darling?" He thought she worded the correct term wrong.

"No... night-terrors..." She frowned. "I have real bad dreams about things, so... I don't know if you should even sleep in the same room-"

"Darling," Eddie used his hands to tilt Ruka's head up to look at her, finders under her chin. "Don't think your condition will make me run. I would rather deal with them with you, than to not acknowledge them." He then leaned in close. "I love you very much, my dear. Night-terrors or whatever else." He kissed her on the forehead sweetly, stroking his fingers at her cheek. "I think the thought of you in complete terror is just absolutely cute. Just the mental image of your face in sheer fright makes me laugh!" Eddie proceeded laughing hard, truthfully.

Ruka shrugged. She warned him.

* * *

In a matter of two hours lazily dragging by, Ruka was asleep in her pink bed, curled under the blankets, snoring soundly and quietly.

Eddie wasn't asleep. No, not just yet. He wasn't even laying down. He was sitting up in his bed, legs hanging off the side, and just staring at Ruka. His hands were planted on his knees, as his eyes remained fixed on his sleeping beauty. He was so happy to be with her, he didn't want to sleep just yet,not even a wink. He wanted to sit there and just stare and marvel at his new Bride, his Wife and everlasting Darling. A smile was plastered upon his face, his eyes still wide with enthusiasm. Truly, from afar, he looked absolutely mad.

Mad in love.

Ruka made a small mumble, something unintelligent, but Eddie dismissed it as some dream she was having. Oh, now he would have just loved to know what she was dreaming of. How he would have loved to drill a hole into her head to peep onto her deeper thoughts, and just discover this little ready by her own head sliced open by a surgical scapel. But, he didn't want to at the same time. He didn't want to hurt her - not while she was so delicate and rosy from being tired and confused. Perhaps soon, though...

"... Nanishiteruno...?" Ruka suddenly spoke softly. Eddie paused. "... Oji... Nani ga okotta no ka?" She continued speaking.

Was this her native language? Eddie didn't know what sort it was, honestly, but he knew it faired Asian tongue. Whatever it was, it seemed to have Ruka captured within her original language, caught speaking to a person(?) about something or questioning them wholly. But, she sounded quiet, as if she were whispering to someone's ear. Of course, it made Eddie finely envious of this imaginary person. Whoever it was clearly had heard her voice before, and was speaking back from the way she made odd faces.

But those thoughts flew out the window, when Ruka suddenly made a horrid gasp aloud, and started trashing and kicking in her sleep. She wildly scratched at her neck, as if someone was choking her. "Oji, MATTE! Watashi o koroshite wa ikenai!" She screamed hard, as if she were shouting at an actual attacker. "Teishi! Iie! IIE!"

Eddie quickly reacted, though panicky, to dart to her side and grab her by her trashing wrists. "Darling, wake up!" Eddie yelled, but her eyes remained clenched shut, crying as she persisted. "Darling, Darling, wake up!" He pulled her arms up and quickly crossed them over her chest, like an X, to prevent anymore resistance and scratching at her throat. Red streaks decorated her skin from her own nails.

Her breathing was quick, but she began to ease from the fight. When her darkened mind swirled back to reality, awakening to a familiar injured face, she didn't know what to do. She KNEW she had a night-terror, but, she didn't have her Doctor to save her. She just had Eddie. She was petrified, but to the mere thought that if she had the advantage, she could have killed someone in her sleep... Her heart thumped with immense terror of the unknown.

"Darling... it was a night-terror, like you said..." Eddie quietly soothed Ruka with his voice, releasing his hold from her wrists calmly. "Oh, Lord, my baby. You were so scared..." He caressed her cheek with a palm, with every stroke thawing his beloved out of her frozen state. "Would you like to have company? To make sure you don't lay alone?" He asked, looking into her watery eyes as if he needed to read her mind, for any trace of monsters still lurking behind her hope.

But Ruka burst out crying as a reply, covering her face with both her hands. She nodded firmly to Eddie, though, as that same fear from long ago came back to haunt her once again. The fear of ending up alone. Eddie climbed into her bed, as she scooted over to make room, and both laid down together in an embrace. Eddie held his weeping Bride with strong arms, petting the back of her head as she buried her face onto his chest. He waited for her breathing to calm down, so that he could move down to properly kiss her on the brow.

"... Everyone died, Eddie. Everyone died..." Ruka weeped, eyes still closed and breathing shaky.

Eddie kissed her closed eyelids, and reminded her again, "I love you, Darling. I won't leave you."

"Do you swear?" She huffed, fingers at his side to kned at.

"Yes, I do. I swear on my life." He swore, truthfully.

Ruka ran a drawing finger over Eddie's chest, where his heart was. She drew an invisible X over it, as a way to cross his heart.

Once her breathing calmed, both the snuggled duo were finally finding peace again. Eddie continued holding his Darling close, listening to her breaths. She seemed to have become lax, melted into his arms like jello as he continued to pet her head and embrace.

Not until Ruka suddenly started to burst out laughing hard.

Eddie's eyes snapped opened. "Sweetie, what is it?" He asked his giggling Bride.

"My Uncle was wearing a pink shirt!" She barked out in a laughing fit, slapping her hand over his chest.

God, they were both crazy.


End file.
